Josh Earnest: Obama's European campaign tour 'different' from Netanyahu's pre-election visit to US

President Obama has made it clear that he won’t be meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been invited by House Speaker John Boehner to address a joint session of Congress in March. On Wednesday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest explained Wednesday that leaving the White House out of the loop was a “departure from protocol.”

If that’s true, the media asked Earnest today, how does that explain candidate Obama’s extensive 2008 European and Middle Eastern campaign tour just months before the United States elections? The answer? They’re very different.

"A visit in July in advance of a Nov election is v different from a March visit in advance of a March election" @PressSec says

Obama said earlier this week he’ll certainly meet with the winner of Israel’s election. Until then, it’s a snub for Netanyahu and back to standard presidential protocol, like meeting with a green-lipped YouTube superstar who eats cereal from her bathtub.